


Ring of Truth

by OracleofDoom



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: 2nd Edition, Gen, Original Player Characters, homebrew setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-22 20:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11974707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OracleofDoom/pseuds/OracleofDoom
Summary: A rogue's plan to steal an important item from a priest gets her more than she bargained for.





	Ring of Truth

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old narrative I wrote as part of the background for an elven rogue I created for a home-brew setting.

The cell door slammed shut in front of Sylvess, the sound echoing around her. She could easily reach through the bars in the door. She knew there were more secure quarters for more dangerous prisoners, but as a mere pickpocket, there was no reason for such caution with her. Or so they thought. The easy part of her plan was finished. It would just get harder from here.

“Your name,” the Enforcer asked her in Viridian. He’d already asked her several times before, and the look of exasperation on his face was evident. He must think she was either an idiot, insane, or both, having tried to pick the pocket of one of Jor’s Enforcers.

“I don’t speak Viridian,” she lied to him in Elven, for the fifth time. Or was it the sixth? “I don’t understand why I’m here,” she added, still in Elven.

He sighed and shook his head, exasperated. “Watch her,” he said to a nearby guard, an older, fair-haired Human. As the Enforcer turned his back and walked out of the room, the guard winked at Sylvess.

She allowed herself to smile at him slightly, remaining tight-lipped, but then carefully turned her attention away from him. This next task would be the most difficult, and she couldn't risk anyone connecting her to him.

She waited quite a while. She wasn’t sure how long, but she was growing concerned that the guard they had posted might be rotated off duty, and then she couldn’t be guaranteed that the next one would be one of the Guild’s plants. That would complicate things a great deal.

She involuntarily straightened as the Judge entered and approached her cell. This was the first time she’d seen him up close, and he wasn’t a bad looking man. His hair was long, lighter brown than her own, and swept back and tied behind the back of his neck, displaying his angular features and pointed ears in a way that made him look a bit severe. His dark eyes rested on her, not without kindness. “So, you’re the woman who tried to rob an Enforcer,” he said in Elven.

“I don’t speak Elven,” she said to him in Viridian. She studied him, and was relieved to see the ring of office on his finger, the one that allowed him to detect lies. She'd been assured he would have it with him.

He stared at her, taken aback, mouth partially open.

It was so hard for her to resist smiling. She stepped to the bars and looked at him. “I’m an unlicensed prostitute just trying to survive in the street. I’m part Orc, you see. I have seven children to feed. All of them Orcs,” she said, continuing to speak in Viridian. In fact, she'd never so much as seen an Orc, and wasn't entirely sure she'd recognize one if she did.

He looked startled, and his mouth twisted as if he was trying to fight off a smile.

“Please think of my family,” she pleaded, reaching through the bars to clasp his hands within her own. It didn't matter that they both knew every word she spoke was bullshit. She still played the part. “They’re suffering without me!”

As he withdrew his hands, she caught the ring he wore and slid it from his fingers, quickly stepping back out of his reach.

He didn’t seem to know what to make of her, and looked torn between being amused and annoyed. He was going to realize what she'd done any second now, and then he wouldn't be so torn.

She closed her eyes, hoping she looked upset as she put her hands to her mouth, and swallowing the ring. It was hard and a bit painful going down. She didn't have practice swallowing solid objects in her adult life, but it was the only way to ensure he wasn’t going to get it back.

The Judge was no fool. He looked from his hands and back to her again, frowning. “Did you . . . did you just swallow my ring?”

She opened her mouth to tell him she did no such thing, that she had no idea what he meant, had he been wearing a ring? But she hesitated. “I…" She couldn’t bring herself to say these things. The truth threatened to spill forth from her lips if she forced herself to speak. She just couldn’t bring herself to lie. Dear gods. She couldn’t lie. Her eyes widened in horror as she stared at the equally horrified eyes of the High Judge. “I... I find myself un…" No. She'd wanted to say unable but found that wasn't true. She stepped back against the wall.

He nodded, eyes narrowing. “Well. I’ll assign a female Enforcer to stay in here with you to wait things out, then. I’m sure you have no intention of answering any more of my questions at the moment, so I’m just going to go and prepare a mind reading spell. I’ll be back when that’s ready.” He began walking toward the door.

“No!” She stepped forward again, panicked. If he read her mind, he could find enough information to topple the entire Guild. “No, please, I’ll talk!”

He turned and looked at her. “About what?”

“About . . . how handsome you are,” she said, looking him up and down. “You are. I can see that you’re hiding some muscle under those Judge’s robes. It’s too bad you’re celibate. It seems such a waste to have an Elf like you here like this. It’s been so long since I’ve been with an Elf, too. I have a Human lover, but he’s been getting old, and it just isn’t as fulfilling.” She was blustering and felt like a complete idiot. Her face was burning hot.

He began to laugh, shaking his head, and he turned away again.

“Wait, but these are the first true things I’ve said all day!” she shouted after him.

He didn't even slow his step as he left her standing there like a complete fool. She turned to the guard. He’d need get her out of there quickly before anyone read her mind. And hopefully, once she was out of there, she’d never have to face the High Judge again. Now, in addition to the Guild’s future being at stake, there was the matter of her being far too embarrassed to look him in the eye again.


End file.
